Book Marks Patrick Lumber’s 100th

(Dec. 29, 2014) -- When the management team at Patrick Lumber, Portland, Or., started discussing what the company should do to mark its 100th year in business, Patrick’s Dave Halsey suggested publishing a book filled with anecdotes about life in the lumber trading business.

Agreeing that this was an imaginative way to celebrate the centennial, the rest of the board members appointed Halsey to lead the effort and thus began a two-year project resulting in this month’s release of Business is Good: Stories of Patrick Lumber Company’s First Century.
“It’s not every day a company in the lumber business turns 100 years old,” Halsey said. “We thought the occasion called for something unique and different.”

Business is Good, by Timm Locke, offers an entertaining glimpse into the people and events that have shaped the first 100 years of Patrick Lumber. Founded January 1, 1915, by Charles C. Patrick and his colleague, William A. Brushoff, the company was one of the first lumber trading firms, helping to pioneer the art of matching producers and products with customers and end users in a fashion that is commonplace in the industry today.

Chock-full of memorabilia, historic ephemera, and first-person anecdotes from throughout the company’s history, the book takes the reader on a chronological journey of a company that has survived two World Wars, a Great Depression, a Great Recession, and a near-crippling Department of Justice investigation. Perhaps most remarkable, though, is the fact that Patrick Lumber had only five presidents during its first 99 years. (Halsey became the sixth when he succeeded Jim Rodway earlier this year.)

“This book is a tremendous tribute to the people, the customers, and the suppliers who have helped Patrick Lumber Company thrive over the years,” Halsey said. “It’s a fitting way to mark the accomplishments of our first hundred years, just as we embark on what we hope will be an equally successful second century.”

Patrick Lumber’s traders are busy distributing copies of the book to the customers and suppliers with whom they work. Others who are interested in purchasing a copy can contact Patrick Lumber directly at (503) 222-9671 or sales@patlbr.com. It is also available at amazon.com.